Exotic Tastes
by thehotmageaeris
Summary: Another short oneshot! Sindrel and Xelian, her dremora companion, are traveling through the Colovian Highlands in Northwestern Cyrodiil. They stop for a bit when Sindrel realizes she has run into a problem.


"I'm out of bottles of blood…" Sindrel mentioned. Xelian looked down at her. He noted that her eyes were becoming wilder and hungrier, like that of a feral animal's. Her face overall was looking rather gaunt and far too pale, even for the red-head's complexion. If she were human still, he would think that she could be snapped in half easily with how frail and sickly she looked. However, for vampires, the more they went without blood, the more ferocious they were. Her strength, agility, and powers were likely increased dramatically with how ghastly she was beginning to look. Glancing up to him, she caught his eyes. "It's been about two and a half days since I last fed."

"Will you survive, mortal?" He asked her, unsure of what to really do with a vampire. Dremora could never become vampires, as far as he knew. It was as foreign a thing to him as the woman standing before him.

"Is that concern I hear, my darling Xelian?" Sindrel asked with a giggle. He glared at her in response.

"I will survive, but it will be painful for me once the sun rises. I've two hours to prepare for that," Sindrel replied, looking at the sky. "Maybe I'll get lucky and find a cave."

If she fed once a day, the sun didn't bother her any more than it did normally, being a woman with such a fair complexion. She was used to wearing a cowl in the sunlight often. It was when she was unable to feed for more than two days. Then the sun beat down on her mercilessly, making her feel as if her skin was roasting and her blood was boiling. It was an agonizingly painful downside to vampirism.

Xelian and Sindrel continued their walk through the rolling fields, keeping an eye out for any cave entrances. It would be six hours until they get to their destination, three if they were to run, but running would have them worn out within an hour and they didn't have the stamina potions to recharge in case of any battles along the way. The dremora looked over at her again. She didn't appear to be overly concerned at first, yet he watched her glance over to the horizon nervously more than once. An hour passed, bringing sunrise closer upon them. Sindrel now sported an uneasy expression. Xelian stopped walking and grunted. Sindrel looked back curiously.

"Xelian, what's wrong?"

"Will my blood work?" he asked flatly.

Sindrel was somewhat stunned by his question. Was he offering his blood to her? She probably looked like a fool with her flabbergasted expression. Hoping to recover, she looked down and tapped her chin as if to think.

"I… I don't know," she replied honestly. "I've never tried it."

Wordlessly, he removed his gauntlets and began to unbuckle his armor, removing the cuirass. When it laid in a pile, he sat down, half armored now. His under-armor shirt's neckline was pulled down by his finger, exposing his neck to her. Sindrel began blushing, unsure of what to do or say. Eventually, she found words to have tumble out of her mouth

"Are you sure?" Stupid question since he sat, waiting for her.

"I would rather not listen to your weakling complaints of the sun, mortal. Or worse, have to carry you if you pass out. Take it or don't, I'm only here serving you," Xelian told her apathetically.

With his words, he pulled down the collar of his shirt even more, enticing her eyes to look. The hunger of the vampire resurfaced as she gazed down at his ebony flesh. Before she even realized it, she was taking steps over to him. Once she stood before him, looking down, she fell to her knees. Now before him, she reached her hands out for his muscular neck, caressing it softly. His skin was firm and smooth, surprisingly. Beneath her fingertips, she could feel his powerful muscles twitch at her touch. She moved a hand up, brushing his thick dark hair away from his neck, and parted her lips slightly in anticipation. He watched her silently. She looked away from his neck and back to his eyes, giving him a weak smile. "This might sting."

Wrapping her small arms around his hulking upper body, she brought her lips down to the nook of his neck. The musky scent of the dremora tickled her nose, but it was very pleasant. She lightly brushed her lips upon his neck, looking for the place to bite. This sent shivers down Xelian's spine and he closed his eyes. He felt her bite into him, grunting at the pain that went away as quick as it came. Sindrel was surprised by how he tasted. His blood wasn't sweet like that of mortals' but rather spicy and rich, reminding her of some of the cuisine that came from Elswere. She savored the flavor and drank from him delicately, stroking the back of his neck as she did. The feeling was very soothing for him. Almost reflexively, Xelian returned the embrace, pulling her further into him. Sindrel barely noticed as she continued to feed.

Not wanting to weaken her companion too much, she broke away after several minutes.

Xelian looked down at her flushing face. Within the time it took for her to feed, the suppleness and radiant glow she always had before the vampirism returned to her face. Her eyes were sparkling and soft, no longer full of hunger. Inside he was greatly relieved it did the trick. The dremora let the small woman go, realizing he was holding her. She pulled back her arms in a similar fashion, standing up to give him some space to stand and replace his armor. Once they were all set, the first rays of light threatened to peak over the horizon. Sindrel turned to him.

A hand caressed Xelian's cheek gently.

"Thank you," Sindrel's eyes shone brightly.

Not wanting to appear weak in the moment, he merely looked away and nodded. They returned to their long trek ahead of them.

**Author's Notes:**

**Omg, randomness. This is after Xelian gives her his name, of course, but before the happenings of my other short story "I Release You", so yea. One shots abound! **

**I hope you guys are still enjoying these. I have quite a few more as well as another chapter for "Not Without Thought" that will go up tomorrow. Let me know your thoughts with some reviews and faves, and thanks again for reading! :)**


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